Conceptualising Chinese food therapy in tourism and hospitality to facilitate transformative service co-creation

Purpose This study aims to conceptualise Chinese food therapy (CFT) as a culturally grounded service, a carrier of a non-Western well-being construct, and explores its transformative potential to extend transformative service research (TSR) in tourism and hospitality. It introduces how the core characteristics and principles of CFT are translated into transformative service mechanisms and develops a conceptual bridge that articulates its influence on well-being. Design/methodology/approach This research adopts a conceptual approach that synthesises interdisciplinary literature, including CFT’s philosophy, TSR, food well-being and the tourism and hospitality field. Drawing on critical CFT concepts, this study develops a conceptual framework that illustrates how CFT principles are translated into a proposed transformative service cycle. Findings The study shows that CFT entails a balance-oriented well-being concept of harmony among body constitution, food practice and context. It proposes a co-created CFT transformative service cycle in which customers and CFT-informed service providers jointly interpret situated conditions, co-create adaptive transformative service design, use perceived well-being responses to guide re-evaluation and subsequent food practices. CFT’s preventive purpose extends the scope of TSR beyond vulnerability to everyday, population-wide well-being improvement and maintenance. Moreover, CFT’s inherently interactive nature aligns closely with value co-creation and experiential dynamics of tourism and hospitality services. Research limitations/implications The paper contributes to TSR research by reframing CFT as an adaptive transformative service mechanism, establishing a theoretical bridge between non-Western well-being approaches, traditional healthcare and modern experience design. Practical implications This study includes actionable implications for tourism and hospitality providers seeking to design CFT-inspired experiences. CFT presents an accessible pathway for integrating health and well-being intent into daily life and leisure food experiences. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is the first to advance tourism and hospitality studies by positioning CFT knowledge as a unique approach that has not been comprehensively theorised before. It offers a foundation for future empirical research and contributes to a novel lens for reimagining food services and extending TSR.